Processes and apparatus are known for producing coagulated egg products in the form of elongated shaped bodies. U.S. Pat. No. 3,285,749 describes the preparation of an egg product from egg yolk and egg white by molding cooked egg yolk into the form of an elongated body, and locating this body concentrically within an annular body of raw egg white, and thereafter coagulating the egg white around the egg yolk to produce the composite product.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,823,659 and 3,980,009, describe apparatus for producing an egg product in the form of elongated bodies having a central core of congealed egg yolk enclosed within an annulus of coagulated egg white. There is no suggestion that the apparatus is to be used for producing annular bodies from egg white having no egg yolk cores. Similar apparatus is available commercially from Sanovo Food & Engineering, Ltd., Odens, Denmark; and commercial egg products utilizing this type of apparatus for their manufacture have been marketed in the United States and other countries. (See Ernst, "The Natural Long Egg", Poultry Tribune, August, 1979, pages 32, 34, and 37.) On the basis of existing knowledge about the processing of egg whites to produce cooked products for commercial distribution, it would be anticipated that an egg white snack food product would have unsatisfactory characteristics. When egg white is cooked, an exudate results which amounts to 2 to 3% of the product weight and is rich in the protein ovomucoid (Nath et al., 1973, Poultry Sci., 52: 1827-1830). When the cooked egg white is stored at refrigerator temperatures, the amount of exudate reaches 2.7% in 7 days. The exudate includes proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals (Nath et al., 1972, Agric. Food Chem., 20: 792-794). Further, it has been known for some time that cooked egg whites could not be used as frozen foods because the whites become rubbery, granular, watery, and tends to separate into small clumps or layers (Woodroof, 1946, Quick Frozen Foods, 8 (9): 90).